


No Touching

by ami_ven



Category: Stargate Atlantis
Genre: Community: mcsheplets, Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-16
Updated: 2018-07-16
Packaged: 2019-06-11 07:21:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 602
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15310314
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ami_ven/pseuds/ami_ven
Summary: “Is it just that you can’t bear to keep your hands off me for the next nine hours?”





	No Touching

**Author's Note:**

> Written for LJ community "mcsheplets" prompt #284 "temptation"

“This is stupid,” said Rodney.

John didn’t look up from where he was playing solitaire, sitting up against the far wall. “That’s what you’ve been saying.”

“I don’t want to touch you, anyway,” he continued.

“Okay.”

“And what kind of requirement is this? How does spending the night in this large, empty room in any way deem us ‘worthy’ to enter an Ancient outpost?”

John shrugged. “Would you rather it was something difficult? Or is it just that you can’t bear to keep your hands off me for the next nine hours?”

“Nine and a half,” Rodney retorted, then frowned. “And, no, I don’t. If they insisted on a test, I would rather it was of our competence, not our celibacy.”

“Hey,” the colonel laughed, “we’re supposed to not _touch_ all night, nobody was even talking about sex.”

“It was implied.”

John turned over another card, pondering where he could move it. “We wouldn’t have sex on a mission, anyway. We’re even allowed to eat and sleep, as long as we do it all on our own. So, this’ll be easy.”

“It’s the principle of the thing, Sheppard,” grumbled Rodney.

“Uh-huh,” said John, and flipped another card.

There was silence for about a minute, then Rodney said, “It’s probably not a ZedPM, anyway.”

“McKay…”

“And even if it _is_ as ZedPM, it’s probably depleted or plugged into some kind of stupid doomsday machine.”

“ _McKay_ …”

“Of course, it’s even more likely that it’s just some phantom readings from a weird rock formation than anything actually useful.”

John placed the last card and swept them all up again. “You seriously need to ramp it down, there, buddy. It’s gonna be a long night if you’re all stressed like this. We’re planning to take watches – why don’t you turn in early?”

“I…” Rodney said, then scowled. “This is stupid. It’s like telling someone not to think about pink elephants – almost nobody is ever already thinking about pink elephants, but as soon as you say it, that’s all they can think about.”

“Okay,” said John.

“We always try to act professional in the field. It’s a good policy and it’s generally pretty easy to do. We’re not big on PDA, anyway, even at home. But…”

“But once they said you couldn’t touch me, all you can think about is touching me?”

“Yeah,” said Rodney. “Don’t look so smug.”

“I wasn’t,” John protested, but he was. “How often would you say you want to touch me, then? On average?”

“Never,” said Rodney, which was a lie and they both knew it. “ _Especially_ not now.”

John grinned for a moment, then said, “I want to be able to touch you, too, you know. Since we came in here, I’ve been thinking about how much I do, just in general. Even with our ‘no PDA’ rule. I’m not… I’m not a real tactile person, you know that. But I like having you close.”

“Hey,” Rodney said, softly. “I do know that. But you always reach out to me, that’s important, too.”

“Yeah?” said John.

“Yeah,” he echoed. “Also, when we get back to Atlantis, we are absolutely taking at least one whole day for lying-in-bed-naked full-contact sex.”

“Yeah?” John repeated, laughing. “I think I could find some space in my schedule for that.”

“Idiot,” Rodney said, fondly.

“Sleep, McKay,” said John, starting another game of solitaire, still carefully sitting on the far side of the room.

And when the local priest came the next morning to let them know the test was over and lead them into the outpost, John caught Rodney’s hand and held on tight. 

THE END


End file.
